The Role of the Proportionality Principle in the Intellectual Property Case-Law

Intellectual property law lends the private parties entitlements over certain immaterial objects with the aim of promoting creativity and innovation. These entitlements and their enforcement, however, often conflict with the legitimate interests of other individuals, such as their freedom of expression or privacy, or the public interest, such as safe-guarding of free competition. In resolving these conflicts, the proportionality plays a pivotal role. This talk will look into the several distinct roles in which the principle of proportionality proved to be decisive in developing the intellectual property doctrine in the case-law of the CJEU. The particular emphasis will be put on (1) the internal consistency of its application, especially in the light of earlier pre-Charter case-law, (2) its role as a promoter of the further harmonization and (3) as a counter-weight to overzealous IP enforcement.